Julius Erving Says Dr. J Auction Wasn’t Created to Pay Off Debt
Julius Erving has decided to auction off several pieces of memorabilia from his historic NBA career. The auction, which will occur next month, comes shortly after a lawsuit was filed against the basketball legend saying that he owed more than $200,000 for an unpaid loan. But Dr. J says that it’s just a coincidence and that the auction wasn’t created to pay off any debt.
Erving said:
“That irony actually gave me a sleepless night last night. I had to laugh at it and cringe at it that these stories would run concurrent with one another… We decided to do it a long time ago. To claim it’s a firesale or to clear up some debt, I don’t think so. You don’t do an auction overnight. This has been long planned. We had 4,000 catalogs that have been mailed already to people who buy this kind of stuff.”
According to ESPN, Erving will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Salvation Army.
The auction, which will run from Oct. 28 and conclude Nov. 19, will feature several items from Dr. J’s career in the ABA and NBA. Here are some of the items up for auction. (You can see all the items up for auction here.)
- 1969-70 UMass game jersey. Minimum bid: $15,000.
- 1974 New Jersey Nets ABA championship ring. Minimum bid: $20,000
- 1975-76 ABA MVP trophy. Minimum bid: $10,000.
- 1983 Philadelphia 76ers NBA championship ring. Minimum bid: $25,000.
Dr. J will also be auctioning of his customized game-worn Converse All-Stars that he wore in “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.”
The lawsuit stems from a $1 million line of credit that Erving and his company The Erving Group were given in 2009. The bank filed the lawsuit on October 18th.
Do you think Dr. J is telling the truth? Is the auction unrelated to lawsuit? Anyone bidding on some Dr. J memorabilia?
